Two weeks ago Donald Trump was elected the President of the United States and almost immediately the left started complaining about the policies he ran the election on, whom he might appoint, and that Clinton won the popular vote.

At TCR we believe in the First Amendment, freedom of speech, but it sure seems like we should be supportive and give President-Elect Trump a chance to govern before the whining starts. In addition, he should have his choice of officials and all the hand-wringing over thirty year old allegations that are just reaching.

Electoral College Misinformation

The Democrats lost the election based on a system of selecting a President through the Electoral College. The popular vote only matters in each individual state.

Here is a brief history lesson of why we have the Electoral College. The Electoral College per Alexander Hamilton, "Talents for low intrigue, and the little arts of popularity, may alone suffice to elevate a man to the first honors in a single State; but it will require other talents, and a different kind of merit, to establish him in the esteem and confidence of the whole Union, or of so considerable a portion of it as would be necessary to make him a successful candidate for the distinguished office of President of the United States."

So to get elected President, one needs appeal to many diverse states and it cannot be the result of just running up the vote total in the big state's favor, such as California, New York, Texas, Florida, and Illinois. Without the college, 25-40 states would be completely irrelevant in selecting a President.

The Democrats being sore losers, if they had their way, the selection of U.S. Senators would be reapportioned by population, causing many states to lose their current senators.

In short, the Electoral College has worked for 229 years and it's not going anywhere.

Epitaph For The Harris County Republican Party, "Those Who Cannot Learn From History Are Doomed To Repeat It." - George Santayana

The reviews of the historic wipeout of Harris County Republicans are now being debated around the state and soon around the nation, due to the critical importance of Harris County, and of Texas, for electing a Republican President.

The initial reaction from the present leadership team led by Paul Simpson is we had headwinds at the top of the ticket and their critics are Monday morning quarterbacks, and focusing on all the mechanics of building a "solid" organization. We know very little or no thought was given to messaging and reaching out to non-Republicans. The Party's joint campaign was so lame, what do you want for $1.3 million? There was no effort to reach minority voters, blue-collar voters, or women.

The Party's campaign had no positive face on the campaign, no negative message about Democrats - when one was available - the Democrat's war on energy. The Party treated Trump like the plague and eliminated the opportunity for the Party to benefit from riding his coattails when they appeared around the nation.

Not learning the real lessons of 2016's historical defeat makes 2018, and 2020, all the more challenging. The first step in reversing this course is a proper review of the breadth of disaster in the 2016 elections. The second step is bringing the Party's factions together like was last done from 1996-2007. The third step is to scrap the 2016 plan that failed and to start over.

The Democrats Reaction To Defeat Nationally, Double Down And Going Left

The out of touch national Democratic Party following a historic national defeat looks like it decided to go further left by making former Louis Farrakhan, Nation of Islam member Keith Ellison the Chairman of the Democratic National Committee.

Author Joseph Klein described what Ellison's leadership means to the Democrats. "The Democratic Party will continue to evolve into a pro-Islamist Party that helps advance the stealth Jihad Agenda and that moves away from its traditional support of our closest alley in the Middle East, Israel."

And furthermore - while the mainstream media is claiming that pro-Israel Trump strategist, Steve Bannon is a white supremacist and an anti-Semite (both untrue), they are hailing Ellison for DNC chair, despite his likening the radical Islamic terrorists in Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood whose anti-Semitism is truly breathtaking.

Congressman Ellison has a troubling history of defending anti-Semitic statements by adherents of the Nation of Islam and others; for example, commenting in 1997 on a statement by Joanne Jackson, the Executive Director of the Minnesota Initiative Against Racism, that Jews "are the most racist white people I know," Congressman Ellison reportedly defended her on behalf of the Nation of Islam, and was quoted saying, "We stand by the truth contained in the remarks attributed to [Ms. Jackson], and by her right to express her views without sanction."

Congressman Ellison took the unusual step to come to New Jersey to campaign in mosques against the lone Jewish NJ congressman during a primary contest in 2012.

So what do the Democrats get if they select Keith Ellison as DNC Chairman?" They will be elevating a radical Islamist and Israel basher. Contrary to his pitch on Meet the Press on November 13, 2016, his record does not demonstrate how he would successfully lead his party's effort to 'make working America know that the Democratic party is absolutely on their side.' To the contrary, his selection will risk further alienation of a vast portion of Americans who are convinced - correctly so - that the party they had once supported has abandoned them."

Another Perspective on the Election ResultsBy Brian Ettinger, Contributing Editor

1) Media bias, the actions of the media with the way they presented a narrative in favor of one candidate and against the other is appalling. The phony polls, moderators at the debates with "gotcha" questions, suggesting questions given in advance to one candidate created fairness issues with the voting citizens.

2) Anti-law enforcement sentiment which started with the deaths of individuals by law enforcement. The Ferguson false narrative of "hands up don't shoot" or, the Freddie Gray case, shooting of police officers in Dallas, Baton Rouge and New York. The media created this hysteria and showed riots, destruction of property and businesses all justified by these incidents. I am not saying they are unfit, bad or racist law enforcement officials. Just like there are people in our society and they need to be weeded out and subject to criminal justice. But just like them, these anarchist and violent individuals also need to be subject to the same justice system.

3) Money in the political system, all the advertising dollars spent, grassroots, social media exposure to influence the election results and if election results do not go your way, protest, destroy property, not accepting the results and placing the blame on racist voters, the FBI director first praising him and then criticizing him, or get rid of the electoral college and determine results based on the popular vote.

4) Lastly, media arrogance with their elitist attitude. All of the major network pundits, ABC, NBC, MSNBC, CNN, CNBC and Fox should be fired. They are not journalists and fair minded which came across to the citizens loud and clear. They never recognized that the government is to serve the people not interfere in their lives. People want to decide not have all these pundits, tell them what they need.

All the reasons lead to a Trump victory as well as Hillary Clinton being a flawed candidate that caused her own demise and nobody around her stood up and told her she should not have run but just justified all her actions. She did a disservice to the country and Democratic party by being the first woman candidate nominated by her party to run for the office. So the silent votes that make up half the country spoke out as a backlash as we have a divided nation that needs to heal. So protest will go on as a right of the citizens to speak out. But not an absolute right. Cities and states can pass policies that can restrict size, locations and make protesters obtain permits and post bonds for any destruction done. The cost of police, fire and EMS personal for these protests should not fall on the government to bear the cost. Just like free speech is not an absolute right, so is the right to protest.

I do not know what kind of President Trump will be, but for over 200 years our system has transferred power in this manner and the system has worked. My advice to President-Elect Trump, pick people around you from diverse backgrounds, not all yes men and women, as you need a point of view to be challenged and not the same east coast elitists that caused the country to go down a course of economic disaster, excessive taxes, military and international foreign policy failures.

I would recommend the following: That Donald Trump stand by the principles that he stated during his campaign of improving the economy (jobs, immigration reform, security, fair trade agreements and healthcare reform). To seek a constitutional amendment amending the 12th amendment and place term limits on Congressman of 5 terms (10 years max) and Senators for 2 terms (12 years max) and one 5 year term for President. To take the money out of the system, placing monetary limits on special interest groups and advertising. Lastly, if a politician can't get this agenda accomplished in this time frame, then they need to be replaced. "Power corrupts."

Gary Polland is a long-time conservative and Republican spokesman, fund-raiser, and leader who completed three terms as the Harris County Republican Chairman. During his three terms, Gary was described as the most successful county Chairman in America by Human Events - The National Conservative Weekly. He is in his nineteenth year of editing a newsletter dealing with key conservative and Republican issues. The last fifteen years he has edited Texas Conservative Review. As a public service for the last 13 years, Gary has published election guides for the GOP primary, general elections and city elections, all with the purpose of assisting conservative candidates. Gary is also in his 15th year of co-hosting Red, White and Blue on PBS Houston, longest running political talk show in Texas history. Gary is a practicing attorney and strategic consultant. He can be reached at (713) 621-6335.